Of gardens, suburbs and the Parsi ‘middling sort’ : the case of the Dadar Parsi colony in colonial Bombay

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration of the Dadar Parsi Colony, a middle-class ethnic enclave located in an area of colonial Bombay which emerged in the early 20th century. The thesis argues that the Dadar Parsi Colony arose as part of Bombay’s built environment due to the circumstances that were created by the 1896 plague. It shows that area was the outcome of the import of garden city planning principles into Bombay’s urban landscape. It also argues that the Colony is an example of a microcosm of middle-class Parsi life. It enumerates the ways in which the Parsis who resided within the space of the Colony negotiated with notions of class and colonial modernity in the city. Finally, the thesis demonstrates that the spatial character of the neighbourhood was characterised and constituted by the cultural endeavours and practices of middle-class Parsis in the public and private spheres.